Chorlton Place Nursing Home

Updated 16 March 2024

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of 2 inspectors, 1 medicines inspector and 1 Expert by Experience.

An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

Chorlton Place is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both premises and the carer provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was unannounced.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent to us in the provider information return. This information providers are required to send us with key information about the service, what they do well, and the improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 8 people who used the service ,2 relatives and 1 visitor about their experience of care provided. We spoke with 10 staff members including the registered manager, care staff, nursing staff, activity coordinator, auxiliary staff, including the chef, maintenance person and 2 professionals who visited the service at the time of the inspection.

We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI).SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.

We reviewed a range of records. This included 6 care records, 5 staff files in relation to recruitment records, and multiple medicines records. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were also reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We contacted 4 professionals who regularly visited the service.

Updated 16 March 2024

About the service

Chorlton Place Nursing Home provides accommodation and personal and nursing care to for up to 48 people aged 65 and over. The service was supporting 45 people at the time of our inspection.

The ground floor provides support to people living with dementia and the first floor provides nursing. All the rooms are single occupancy with en-suite toilets. There are shared accessible bathrooms on each floor.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Medicines were not always safely managed which placed people at risk of harm. People told us that there was not always enough staff on duty to meet their needs and recruitment records did not always demonstrate that the policies were being followed. We received assurances from the provider regarding the current recruitment practice. Staff did not always follow good infection control principles and guidance but plenty of personal protective equipment (PPE) was available.

Staff were busy and people did not always feel they were treated with respect. Care records did not always guide staff on how to promote people’s independence. New electronic care plans were not always as detailed and person centred as the paper copies previously used but staff knew people and their needs.

People felt able to raise concerns. People told us that that they were not always offered activities that were individualised although the activity worker worked hard to have regular contact with everyone living at Chorlton Place.

The environment needed updating and consideration to meet the needs of people living with dementia. We have made a recommendation about this.

People’s needs were assessed, and they were supported to maintain their health and nutrition. Staff worked well with a range of external health and social care professionals to ensure people got the right care and treatment. Clinicians had confidence in the ability and knowledge of staff. People were generally supported to have choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Manager evaluated the quality of care and support provided to people .However, existing quality assurance processes were not always effective as they had not identified the issues, we found at this inspection. People and staff spoke very complimentarily about the Registered Manager.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was good (published 4 February 2022).

Why we inspected

The inspection was prompted in part due to concerns received about the administration of medicines, infection control, staffing and organisational culture within the home. A decision was made for us to inspect and examine those risks.

Enforcement and Recommendations

We have identified breaches of regulations in relation to the management of people’s medicines and management of the safety and quality of the service at this inspection as well as dignity and respect.

We have made recommendations about reviewing good practice guidance regarding supporting people living with dementia and reviewing staffing dependency tool to ensure safe staffing.

Full information about CQC’s regulatory response to the more serious concerns found during inspections is added to reports after any representations and appeals have been concluded.

Follow up

We will request an action plan from the provider to understand what they will do to improve the standards of quality and safety. We will work alongside the provider and local authority to monitor progress. We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.